Oh My! Preterm Labor...

I wasn't feeling normal all day on Friday and I had noticed that the baby had not been moving around like she normally does. She had been still since around 7 on Thursday night and even when I drank a caffeinated drink and had a few cookies she still didn't perk up. This is very unlike her as she usually responds to sweet things and becomes more active. When you are 33 weeks pregnant you should feel at least 4 movements in an hour and what I was feeling wasn't the normal kicks, jabs, rolls, or bumps. I felt very light "swishes", movements that I normally, probably wouldn't have felt if I wasn't laying around waiting to feel them!

At 4:50 I had my first contraction of the night. It felt like a normal braxton hicks, slightly uncomfortable but not painful. I didn't think much of it, since I have these occasionally, but then I had one about 10 minutes later and it was a bit stronger and lasted a bit longer. I decided I should start timing them, just in case. My Dr. had previously told me weeks ago that this early in my pregnancy I shouldn't have more than 4 contractions in an hour. She also said they consider you to be in labor if your contractions are less than 5 minutes apart and last for a minute or more. Well my contractions quickly picked up and in 30 minutes I had already had 7 contractions coming about 4 minutes apart. They were also getting stronger with each one and I was feeling unusual pressure down below with each contraction. Scared me to death! This went on for about an hour. So with the contractions, compounded with not feeling the baby all day and not really feeling normal myself I decided to call the Dr immediately.

Since I'm only 33 weeks and she needs to bake for at least another 4 weeks my Dr. (who was on call thank goodness!) told me to get to the hospital immediately to be monitored and checked out and not to drive myself. Of course Chris was at work still and was having a seriously busy afternoon getting several loans out. Needless to say, this wasn't exactly convenient for him but I think he understood what was going on and tried to get home as quickly as possible.

With Friday night traffic we didn't get to the hospital until 7 and honestly, my contractions had let up somewhat and I seriously considered going home. SO glad I didn't!!! Once we got to the hospital they hooked me up to the monitors(one for my contractions and one for Caroline's heart rate) and left us for observation for an hour. After I was still again, relaxing, and taking a few deep breaths I realized that I was having the stronger contractions again. It was really interesting watching the monitor and comparing it to the contractions that I was feeling. My cervix was still closed but was "shorter" than it should have been.

They only let me sit for about 45 minutes and then the nurse came in and said I was having "perfect contractions" but they are just way too early. She went to call the Dr. to get my orders and quickly came back with a shot of Terbutaline to stop the contractions. They warned me that my heart rate may go up and that I would probably feel very jittery. They were right! They thought that one dose should knock the contractions out, but said I could have up to 3 in the next 3 hours. For the first 15 minutes, it really worked. Then I started having regular contractions again so they brought in the second dose. It also worked for the first few minutes and then I started having regular peaks on the monitor again... only some of these were uncomfortable. It was around midnight by now and the nurses were getting a bit frustrated and spoke to the Dr again before they gave me the final dose. They agreed that I should get the final shot followed immediately by an oral dose of the Terbutaline to really put an end to the contractions. The nurses also said that the Dr was going to call in Terbutaline for me to take at home every 4 hours, even at night, for the next 24 hours and then as needed. This STILL didn't knock the contractions out and at this point they started discussing the remaining options with us. The first, and least invasive, was to start an I.V. for fluids and see if that helped. Otherwise, they would have to move on to the Magnesium Sulfate and I had heard enough about "the mag" that I knew I wanted to avoid that if at all possible. The Mag would also involve a minimum 24 hour hospital stay and I was already too exhausted!

Of course I would have done it if it was what was best for the baby, but I was really hoping it wouldn't come to that! It was already 3 in the morning and I was slightly miserable by this time so I was up for anything to make it stop and hopefully get home sooner rather than later. Hospital beds aren't comfortable and the medicine that they had given me earlier made me feel like I had to get up and run a marathon and I should ask for oxygen all at the same time! Crazy feeling! Chris was really uncomfortable too, but he did a great job of bringing me water and helping me attempt to get comfortable!

After getting hooked up to the I.V. and letting it run for a few hours my contractions were down under the 6 in one hour mark, which is when they would finally let me go home! It was already just after 5 am and I knew that if I could just get home I would be so much more comfortable and I had noticed that me continuously changing positions was bringing on contractions, adding to the problem. We were discharged at around 5:15 with a prescription for more anti-contraction medicine and orders for me to be on "bedrest" until my scheduled Dr's appointment on Tuesday.

I am still having random contractions today, but as long as I am not having "pressure" and they aren't forming a pattern, I am fine. Also, I think Caroline being breech is a blessing in disguise because if her little head was already at the exit, every contraction I have had would have pressed on my cervix and I would have dilated further. If that was the case I would be living at the hospital right now.. AHH! I would really hate that! So, good job Caroline! Keep it up;-) At this point we are so glad to be back home, watching football!!, and hoping that this premature labor biz was a one time issue and that we won't have any problems with this in the future! The nurses said they have women come in sometimes with preterm labor that end up having to be induced in the end... but hopefully we won't go THAT long!;-)

I will try to make sure that I update after my Dr's appointment and if we have any other surprises in the mean time! Have a good weekend and ROLL TIDE!!!!